Paul (2011)

Paul Synopsis

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) reunite for the comedy adventure Paul as two sci-fi geeks whose pilgrimage takes them to America's UFO heartland. While there, they accidentally meet an alien who brings them on an insane road trip that alters their universe forever.

For the past 60 years, an alien named Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) has been hanging out at a top-secret military base. For reasons unknown, the space-traveling smart ass decides to escape the compound and hop on the first vehicle out of town -- a rented RV containing Earthlings Graeme Willy (Pegg) and Clive Collings (Frost).

Chased by federal agents and the fanatical father of a young woman that they accidentally kidnap, Graeme and Clive hatch a fumbling escape plan to return Paul to his mother ship. And as two nerds struggle to help, one little green man might just take his fellow outcasts from misfits to intergalactic heroes.

Today is the day when, all around the world, fireworks are ignited as people celebrate the departure of 2014 and the arrival of 2015. So it seems only appropriate that we would end our year in cinema with a bang as well:

Paul casts Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as a pair of two geek friends road tripping across America with a runaway alien named Paul, voiced by Seth Rogen. It's like a perfect geek sandwich, all wrapped up in dueling British accents. It's also directed by the mega-talented Greg Mottola (he's helmed Superbad, several eps of Arrested Development, and the vastly underrated Adventureland).

Back in March, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost played a pair of road-tripping alien-aficionado buddies who had a close encounter of the Paul kind. If you missed it in theaters, Paul will be looking to probe your nether regions as a Blu-ray combo pack, DVD, and digital download this August 9th.

Despite the arrival of the first day of spring, things weren't exactly coming up roses for the box office this weekend. Three new arrivals made mediocre entrances as overall sales continue to slip. Limitless snagged the number one spot with $19 million. That's not terrible news for the movie itself since it's on track to turn a quick profit against a $27 million budget. It is, however, bad news for the box office in general.

When talking to Bill Hader about how he got involved in Paul, it basically involves him recounting all the most unimaginably fun things he got to do: going on movie dates with Edgar Wright, running around Los Angeles shooting Superbad

Paul has received mostly mixed reviews which is kind of a shame, because seeing Simon Pegg and Nick Frost together on screen playing a couple of geek buddies should be a lot more fun. Maybe they should have done this instead: Made a shot for shot remake of Star Wars.

I talked to Mottola about shooting out West, in the same location as Easy Rider no less, establishing the film's comedic tone, and how there are jokes in the movie that even Pegg and Frost haven't figured out yet. Paul opens in theaters in the U.S. on Friday

Its a jam-packed week for decent looking movies which is fantastic considering we've had a run of less than stellar big screen fare over the last month or so. Let's not waste any more time thinking about the past though. Why would we when there's eye candy like Bradley Cooper...

For our inaugural episode at our new home, it's just Dave and me, since Patches and David are off poisoning themselves with barbecue at SXSW. But don't worry, Dave and I are doing just fine! We talked about the string of sci-fi movies coming out this spring and whether or not that's a trend that spells the end of the superhero genre

Back in July we hadn't even seen footage of what the alien, Paul, looked like, so the questions were very general and non-spoilery-- perfect, since the movie still hasn't even been released. There's also an interesting digression into the differences between British and American comedy near the end

Here’s a few clips from the movie Paul, in which Simon Pegg and Nick Frost of Shaun of the Dead and to a lesser but far more deserved extent Spaced fame find an alien which sounds like Seth Rogen and go on a road trip. Paul is a film which, like a lot of you, I really want to like.

Paul has a new, red band trailer. Why is it a red band trailer? At some point in the trailer Simon Pegg grabs Kristen Wiig’s boob, but she’s wearing a shirt so I’m pretty sure that’s not it. There’s not a lot of red band activity going on in this trailer, except for a scene where Kristen Wiig smokes pot. Is that red band material? The red band warning in front of this trailer would seem to suggest it is.

One of the most sure fire ways to get the masses excited for a movie is to put Simon Pegg in it. His work in Shaun of the Dead instantly earned him, along with his frequent partner in crime, Nick Frost, countrywide

In 2004, American audiences were introduced to Simon Pegg and Nick Frost by way of Shaun of the Dead, an absolutely brilliant horror comedy that played as both a fantastic parody and a wonderful homage

While there's an obvious tie-in with E.T. and Close Encounters, given the alien theme, Hader says there are other Spielberg inspirations in there as well. "Close Encounters, but a lot of Sugarland Express"

Wish you were on the set out in New Mexico, working with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader and more on Greg Mottola's Paul? Yeah, don't we all. Luckily this is one of those Hollywood sets where video blogs are abundant to keep you in the loop

There’s an Alien prequel happening out there somewhere, but Sigourney Weaver’s days fighting creatures from the hellish depths of space are long gone. Instead she’s set to star in a Disney comedy called You Again

More casting on Paul, the Simon Pegg/Nick Frost go on a road trip movie being directed by Greg Mottola. As if Frost and Pegg weren’t enough on their own, go ahead and add Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wigg, Bill Hader, and Jane Lynch to the movie’s IMDB page